German submarine U-455
 U-455 arriving in St. Nazaire after her third patrol on 16 June 1942 | |
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-455 |
| Ordered: | 16 January 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel |
| Laid down: | 3 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 21 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 August 1941 |
| Fate: | Listed as missing in the Mediterranean after 6 April 1944, probably in or around the Ligurian Sea (in front of Gêne) |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: | 769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296 |
| Speed: | 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers and ratings |
| Armament: |
|
German submarine U-455 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 3 September 1940, launched on 21 June 1941 and commissioned on 21 August 1941 with Kapitänleutnant Hans-Henrich Giessler in command of a crew of 51.
Her service began with the 5th U-boat Flotilla, a training outfit. She was transferred to the 7th flotilla for operations at the beginning of 1942 and again to the 29th flotilla in March 1944.
She carried out ten patrols and was a member of six wolfpacks; she sank three ships for a total of 17,685 gross register tons (GRT).
She was lost, probably in the Ligurian Sea (north of Corsica), on 6 April 1944. Her wreck was discovered in 2005, off Genoa. She had previously been thought to be near La Spezia.
Operational career
1st, 2nd and 3rd patrols
U-455 's operational career began when she left Kiel on 15 January 1942. Her first patrol took her to Iceland via Stavanger and Bergen in Norway. She returned to Bergen, empty-handed, on 28 February 1942.
The boat's second patrol was similarly unproductive, leaving Bergen on 21 March 1942 and arriving in St. Nazaire in occupied France on the 30th. She would continue to use this port for most of the rest of her career.
Her third foray was better; on 3 May 1942, she sank the British Workman off Cape Race, Newfoundland, followed by the Geo H. Jones on 11 June northeast of the Azores. Having departed St. Nazaire on 16 April 1942, she returned on 16 June, having spent 62 days at sea.
4th and 5th patrols
Her 4th patrol was even longer, it took her as far as the US Georgia coast, southeast of Savannah. She returned to St. Nazaire on 28 October 1942, having commenced the voyage on 22 August, a total of 68 days.
Her fifth patrol started on 24 November 1942; she scoured large swathes of the Atlantic, all to no avail.
6th, 7th, 8th and 9th patrols
Success continued to elude her; the only excitement on her sixth patrol was when a crewman was injured by one of the boat's own AA guns.
Things became even more serious on her eighth patrol. With a new captain, Kplt. Hans-Martin Scheibe, who had assumed command on 22 November 1942, U-455, along with U-264 and U-422, were caught on the surface on 4 October 1943 while re-fuelling from U-460 by TBF Avengers from USS Card. The smaller boats escaped, but U-460 was sunk.
Her ninth foray saw the U-boat transit the heavily defended Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea, leaving St. Nazaire on 6 January 1944 and arriving in Toulon on 3 February.
10th patrol and loss
On 6 April 1944, U-455 was lost with all hands. Uboat Was sunk by German mine. Superiors did not provide the commander latest minefield maps (Top secret info) and U455 driven straight into their own minefield. Mine exploded near stern section (during a turn?), ripping off about 10 meters (which was not found near the wreck) of the ship leaving crew without possibilities to rescue. Ship was most certainly on periscope depth (observation mast deployed). Wreck is lying on about 120meters depth on Genoa waters vertically with fore section up. Diesel mechanic Luke Brauer (up to patrol 9th then he was moved to naval academy before last mission) confirmed her identity during sea exploration on 2008. Her last transmission was on 2 April 1944, four days prior to her disappearance, when she radioed-in while on patrol off the coast of Algiers.
Wolfpacks
U-455 took part in six wolfpacks, namely.
- Hecht (27 January - 4 February 1942)
- Pfadfinder (21–27 May 1942)
- Draufgänger (29 November - 11 December 1942)
- Ungestüm (11–30 December 1942)
- Without name (11–23 July 1943)
- Schlieffen (14 October 1943)
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 1942 | British Workman |  United Kingdom |
6,994 | Sunk |
| 11 June 1942 | Geo H. Jones | United Kingdom |
6,914 | Sunk |
| 25 July 1943 | Rouenais |  Free France |
3,977 | Sunk (mine) |
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German) IV (Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler). ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher. Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 (in German) III (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
External links
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 455". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-455". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- U-455 - Auf den Spuren eines U-Boots
Coordinates: 44°4′N 9°51′E / 44.067°N 9.850°E